Duryea Motor Wagon Company
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
firms to build gasoline automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s.
Founded by Charles Duryea
Charles Duryea
Charles Edgar Duryea was the engineer of the first-ever working American gasoline-powered car. He was born near Canton, Illinois, the son of George Washington Duryea and Louisa Melvina Turner and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but spent most of his life working in Springfield, Massachusetts...
and his brother Frank
J. Frank Duryea
James Frank Duryea , along with his brother Charles Duryea, invented and built the first American, road-tested gasoline-fueled automobile in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1892-1893...
, they built a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", first demonstrated on September 21, 1893 in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, on Taylor Street in Metro Center
Metro Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Metro Center is the original colonial settlement of Springfield, Massachusetts, located beside a bend in the Connecticut River. As of 2011, Metro Center features a majority of Western Massachusetts' most important cultural, business, and civic venues...
. It is considered the first successful gas-engine vehicle built in the U.S.
In 1895, a second Duryea (built in 1894), driven by Frank, won the Chicago Times Herald race
Chicago Times-Herald race
The Chicago Times-Herald race was the first automobile race held in the United States. Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald, the race was held in Chicago in 1895 between six cars and won by Charles Duryea's Motorized Wagon...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on a snowy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
day. He travelled 54 miles (87 km) at an average 7.5 mph (12 km/h), marking the first U.S. auto race in which any entrants finished. That same year, the brothers began commercial production, with thirteen cars sold by the end of 1896.
The brothers went their separate ways by the end of the century. Frank helped produce the Stevens-Duryea
Stevens-Duryea
Stevens-Duryea was an American manufacturer of automobiles in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts between 1901 and 1915 and from 1919 to 1927.The company was founded after a falling-out between J. Frank Duryea and his brother Charles in 1898...
(at gun maker Stevens
Stevens Arms
Stevens Arms was an American firearms manufacturer founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864. The company introduced the .22 Long Rifle round and made a number of rifle, shotgun, and target pistol designs before being bought by Savage Arms in 1920. After 1920, Stevens made training rifles and machineguns...
), while Charles produced Duryea vehicles as late as 1917.
Although Charles did discuss with his brother the building of the first commercially successful American automobile, Frank was the actual builder. He did correspond with his brother Charles regarding what did and did not work in the design. Charles left Springfield in 1892 before construction began. This was documented in the Selden Patent trial transcripts of testimony by Charles. Most of what Charles designed did not work and had to be redesigned by his brother during construction. Until Charles died in 1938 he tried to take credit away from his brother as the builder of the first American automobile. Charles' family, led by his son Merle, continued this crusade for many years to follow.
See also
- Buckeye gasoline buggyBuckeye gasoline buggyThe Buckeye gasoline buggy or Lambert gasoline buggy was the first practical gasoline automobile available for sale in America, according to automobile historians.-History:...
- Duryea Motor WagonDuryea Motor WagonThe Duryea Motor Wagon was among the first standardized automobiles and among the first powered by gasoline. Fifteen Motor Wagons were built by the Duryea Motor Wagon Company company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, between 1893 and 1896....
- Duryea PowerDuryea PowerDuryea Power Company was a manufacturer of Brass Era automobiles in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was one of several similarly named companies that early automobile pioneer Charles Duryea was involved with....
- List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers